Razor blade with spaced cutout portions along the cutting edge

ABSTRACT

The specific disclosure provides a razor blade having at least one cutting edge, and a plurality of spaced cut-out portions along the cutting edge. There is also disclosed shaving units having a plurality of razor blades with spaced cut-out portions provided along at least one cutting edge of the unit.

United States Patent 1191 Bogaty 4] RAZOR BLADE WITH'SPACED CUTOUT PORTIONS ALONG THE CUTTING EDGE [75] Inventor: Herman Bogaty, Short Hills, NJ.

[73] Assignee: Warner-Lambert Company, Morris Plains, NJ.

[22] Filed: Jan. 8, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 431,652

[52] U.S. Cl. 30/50, 30/346.58 [51] Int. Cl. B26b 21/22, B26b 21/54 [58] Field of Search 30/50, 346.56, 346.57,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Thompson 30/346.56 X

1451 Mar. 25, 1975 1,975,757 10/1934 Gray ..30/50 2,003,761 6/1935 Testi.... 30040.50 3,613,242 10/1971 Hill ..30/30sx Primary Examiner-Al Lawrence Smith Assistant E.run1inerGary L. Smith Attorney, Agent, or Firm-James F. Powers. Jr.; Albert H. Graddis [57] ABSTRACT The specific disclosure provides a razor blade having at least one cutting edge, and a plurality of spaced cutout portions along the cutting edge. There is also disclosed shaving units having a plurality of razor blades with spaced cut-out portions provided along at least one cutting edge of the unit.

7 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to-cutting'edges of razors. More particularly, the present invention relates to novel cutting edge construction for safety razors.

2. Description of the Prior Art Wet" shaving systems used for personal grooming tendto clog to the detriment of shaving efficiency. The phenomenon of razor clogging is primarily caused by shaving cream, hair and debris from the skin being packed between the cutting edge of'the blade and the razor. In the case of multiple blade systems, further compaction of this detritus also occurs between the cutting edges of the blades. The masses of material at or near the cutting edges not only interfere with shaving action but are unesthetic and can serve as sites for harboring growth of unhygienic micro-organisms.

Various methods have been employed in the construction .of razors and blades to avoid this problem, but they have by no means eliminated it. One such construction is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,724,070 wherein at least the bottom blade in a twin blade system is perforated a slight distance rearwardly from'the cutting edge to provide flow paths for shaving residue between the cutting. edges.

The prior art may not have taken into account that the clogging occurs very near to the cutting edges. The gaps and dimensions at the location of the cutting action are very small. The surface forces are therefore very high to thereby make rinsing difficult. Further, forceful streams of rinse water, preferably hot water, are not employed or may be carelessly used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a razor blade comprising at least one cutting edge, and a plurality of spaced cut-out portions along the cutting edge. Such cut-out portions make the shaving debris more accessible to rinsing by a stream of water to thus minimize the possibility of clogging.

Another benefit is derived from the use of blades having cut-out portions along a cutting edge in wet shaving razors over conventionally edgedblades. Conventional blades of the prior artare only nominally'planar. Departures from flatness develop due to incidents of processing and'handling in manufacture, packaging and use. With conventional blades, considerable incidence of bow, warp and twist are observed at the edge. These departures from planarity are noteasily removed by the clampingpressures found in commercial razors, and especially so with sandwich assemblies such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,262,206 and U.K. Pat. No.

772,532, wherein the greater thicknessincreases the stiffness. Through the use of cut-out portions in the blade cutting edge, the resistance of the bladesegments isreduced and the blade edges conform more uniformly to the razor. The removal ofwarp and bow from the blade edge andthe-uniformity of the edgev presented to the face on use resultsin a more comfortable shave of uniform closeness.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a shaving unit constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the shaving unit of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of another shaving unit embodiment of the present invention with a clamping cap of a conventional razor shown in phantom; and

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the shaving unit shown in FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, one embodiment of the present invention provides a shaving unit having a top single edge razor blade, 10 and a bottom single edge razor blade 12 connected to opposite surfaces of a spacer member 14 by welds diagrammatically represented by dashed circles 16, 18, 20. The blades 10, 12 and the spacer member 14 have a pair of elongated slots 38, 40, 42 which are used forhandling the three components during manufacture and assembly of the shaving unit. Recesses 32, 34, 36 are provided at the ends of the blades 10, 12 and the spacer member 14 for aligning the three components of the unit prior to welding. The spacer member 14 also has a pair of forwardly extending spaced ears 28, 30.

A plurality of spaced cut-out portions in the form of V-shaped notches 22 are provided in the cutting edge of the top blade 10. The bottom blade 12 has a plurality of U-shaped notches 24 in the cutting edge thereof.

FIGS. 3'and 4 show another shaving unit having a top single edge razor blade 50 bonded directly to the top surface ofa bottom single edge razor blade 52 by a plurality of welds diagrammatically indicated as dashed circles. The blades 50, 52 have cut-out portions in the form of V-shaped notches 54, 56 along the cutting edges thereof.

As clearly shown in FIG. 4, the inner beveled cutting edge surfaces 62, 60 of the top and bottom blades 50, 52 have a greater acute angle with respect to a horizontal plane as defined by the contacting surfaces of the blades 50, 52 than the outer beveled cutting edge surfaces 58, 60. Such beveling acts to increase the vertical distance between the cutting'edges of the blades 50, 52.

The shaving units shown in'the figures can be dispensed from dispensers such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,91 1,713 and 2,812,576. These types of dispensers have an elongated key that is inserted in the head of a safety razorsuch as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,911,713, 2,911,714, 3,128,551, 3,177,581 and 3,203,093 to wedge aparta capand a blade seat in the razor head. A finger-operated'slide on the dispenser is then used to inserta shaving unit between the cap and the blade seat.

Although the specific embodiments of the figures show plural bladed shaving units, the invention also contemplates the provision of spaced cut-out portions along the cutting edges of any safety razor blade, such as commercially available single cutting edge blades suitable to'be dispensed from the dispensers to the razors described in the preceding paragraph, and commercially available double cutting blades suitable for use in safety razors as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,293,745,, 3,466,746 3,293,745, and 3,708,879.

what critical. Too few cut-out portions are not likely to I afford a discernible decrease in clogging, while too many cut-out portions, particularly if they are large, can effect an improvement in rinsibility but with a significant decrease in the length of the cutting edge. The length of each cut-out portion also affects the functioning of the blade and the number of cut-out portions.

Standard commercially available single cutting edge and double cutting edge razor blades have cutting edges which are approximately 1 7-16 inches in length. With a cut-out portion length of about Vs inch as measured along the apex of the cutting edge, about three to six equally spaced cut-out portions can be suitably provided along a l and 7-16 inch cutting edge. When the length of the cut-out portions is reduced, a greater number of cut-out portions can be effectively used. For example, about 4 to cut-out portions of about l/l6 inch lengths can be equally spaced along a l and 7-16 inch cutting edge.

In shaving units having a plurality of razor blades bonded together, such as shown in the figures, the cutout portions may be formed on only one cutting edge. In this case, the cut-out portions are preferably provided on the top cutting edge. However, the cut-out portions may be provided only on the bottom cutting edge. When only-one cuttingedge in a shaving unit has cut-out portions, the constraint on the number of cutout portions is reduced, though not completely eliminated, because shaving effectiveness is maintained by the other cutting edge.

When cut-out portions are provided on both cutting edges of a shaving unit, the cut-out portions may be in phase, i.e., at the same points along the lengths of the cutting edges. Preferably the cut-out portions are out of phase as shown in the figures, or at least partly out of phase. When the cut-out portions of a shaving unit are out of phase, the length and/or number of cut-out portions may be larger because there is a cutting edge above or below each cut-out portion. Further, as shown in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, the cut-out portions of each cutting edge may have different shapes.

The depth of the cut-out portions as measured rearwardly from the cutting edge is not very critical. Preferably, the cut-out portions should extend rearwardly to fit under the cap of the razor as shown in phantom in FIG. 3.

In the case of shaving units having a spacer member, the cut-out portions 26 preferably extend rearwardly to at least a forward transverse surface 26 (FIGS. 1 & 2) of the spacer member 12.

The cutting edge cut-out portions can be incorporated in stacked double edge shaving units such as disclosed in U.I(. Pat. No. 772,532. Further, the spaced cut-out portions of the present invention can be provided on one or more cutting edges in wet shaving systems having more than two stacked or tandemly arranged cutting edges. The present invention also contemplates the use of such cut-out portions on cutting edges of shaving units in bonded blade shaving systems such as disclosed in US. Pat. Nos. 3,388,831, 3,488,764 and 3,724,070.

I claim:

1. A shaving unit comprising:

a. a first razor blade including a cutting edge having a plurality of spaced cut-out portions therealong, and

b. a second razor blade including a cutting edge spaced upwardly and inwardly from the first blade cutting edge, the second blade cutting edge having a plurality of spaced cut-out portions therealong, and the cut-out portions along the second blade cutting edge being out of phase with the cut-out portions along the first blade cutting edge.

2. The unit of claim 1 wherein the first and second blade cutting edges are approximately 1 7-16 inches in length, and wherein about three to about six cut-out portions of about A: inch cutting edge lengths are formed along each one of the cutting edges.

3. The-unit of claim 1 wherein the first and second cutting edges are approximately 1 7-16 inches in length, and wherein about 4 to about 10 cut-out portions of about 1/16 inch cutting edge lengths are formed along each one of the cutting edges.

4. The unit of claim 1 further comprising a spacer member for vertically separating said first and second razor blades, said spacer member having a forward surface located rearwardly of the second blade cutting edge.

5. The unit of claim 4 wherein the cut-out portions along the second blade cutting edge extend rearwardly from the second blade cutting edge to at least the forward surface of said spacer member.

6. In a shaving system including a shaving unit and a safety razor, the combination comprising:

said shaving unit including:

a first razor blade having a cutting edge,

a second razor blade having a cutting edge spaced upwardly and inwardly from the first blade cutting edge, the second blade cutting edge having a plurality of spaced cut-out portions therealong, and

a spacer member for vertically separating said first and second razor blades, said spacer member having a forward surface located rearwardly of the second blade cutting edge, and the cut-out portions of the second blade cutting edge extending rearwardly to at least the forward surface of said spacer member; and

said safety razor including a cap portion for abutting engagement with the said second razor blade.

7. The combination of claim 6 wherein the cut-out portions of the second blade cutting edge extend rearwardly to beneath said cap portion. 

1. A shaving unit comprising: a. a first razor blade including a cutting edge having a plurality of spaced cut-out portions therealong, and b. a second razor blade including a cutting edge spaced upwardly and inwardly from the first blade cutting edge, the second blade cutting edge having a plurality of spaced cut-out portions therealong, and the cut-out portions along the second blade cutting edge being out of phase with the cut-out portions along the first blade cutting edge.
 2. The unit of claim 1 wherein the first and second blade cutting edges are approximately 1 7-16 inches in length, and wherein about three to about six cut-out portions of about 1/8 inch cutting edge lengths are formed along each one of the cutting edges.
 3. The unit of claim 1 wherein the first and second cutting edges are approximately 1 7-16 inches in length, and wherein about 4 to about 10 cut-out portions of about 1/16 inch cutting edge lengths are formed along each one of the cutting edges.
 4. The unit of claim 1 further comprising a spacer member for vertically separating said first and second razor bladEs, said spacer member having a forward surface located rearwardly of the second blade cutting edge.
 5. The unit of claim 4 wherein the cut-out portions along the second blade cutting edge extend rearwardly from the second blade cutting edge to at least the forward surface of said spacer member.
 6. In a shaving system including a shaving unit and a safety razor, the combination comprising: said shaving unit including: a first razor blade having a cutting edge, a second razor blade having a cutting edge spaced upwardly and inwardly from the first blade cutting edge, the second blade cutting edge having a plurality of spaced cut-out portions therealong, and a spacer member for vertically separating said first and second razor blades, said spacer member having a forward surface located rearwardly of the second blade cutting edge, and the cut-out portions of the second blade cutting edge extending rearwardly to at least the forward surface of said spacer member; and said safety razor including a cap portion for abutting engagement with the said second razor blade.
 7. The combination of claim 6 wherein the cut-out portions of the second blade cutting edge extend rearwardly to beneath said cap portion. 